The Blossom Bus: Help Rural Girls Get To School!

It was a huge pleasure for me to finally meet some of the girls in our Blossom Bus project this October 19 after having seen so many pictures and recounted so many of their stories here on GlobalGiving. Our project manager Suraj Kumar asked the girls to gather at the house of one beneficiary, Anjum, so as to avoid the scrutiny and spectacle that staff sometimes encounter when visiting them at school. 

Our visit was a big event in the village - seeing westerners in a far corner of Mewat is about as rare as seeing cows wandering freely in the streets of an American city. We gathered with a dozen bus riders in Anjum's back yard, and village boys perched on walls around the courtyard to get a glimpse of what was going on. In contrast, the girls we were there to see were very shy, hiding their smiles behind their scarves. Yet they were clearly excited about our visit, and we told them the same news we are sharing with you below - that their project was selected to participate in the first ever Girl Effect Challenge, hosted by GlobalGiving and the Girl Effect Fund.

Truly, the 140 young women in Mewat who will be riding our Blossom Bus this year ARE the Girl Effect. Most are the first females in their villages to reach grades 9 and 10, and with each new academic year they believe even more that they can, and should, complete yet another. Girls who were slated to marry at age 12 or 13 are now setting their sites on a university education. And we know that regardless of what level they reach, they are now much more likely to see that their children are also properly educated, and to make sure their daughters get the same treatment as their sons. 

GUESS WHAT? WE HAVE EXCITING NEWS!

The Blossom Bus has been selected to participate in the first ever Girl Effect Challenge! Through November 15, we are competing with approximately 50 other organizations around the world to become one of six beneficiaries of the Girl Effect Fund, a collective giving pool that has raised nearly $700,000 to date.

By becoming a Girl Effect partner, we will not only receive significant financial support for our Blossom Bus project in 2012, but we will also get critical exposure to Girl Effect fans around the world.  Need proof that this will make a difference?  The Girl Effect has 17,500 followers on Twitter, 260,000 "likes" on Facebook and nearly 1,000,000 views on YouTube!  And it isn't hard to see why the Girl Effect is so popular: watch this video to learn why.

WE CAN’T WIN WITHOUT YOUR HELP

Between now and November 15, our Blossom Bus project must recruit as many unique donors as possible.  We are asking all of our supporters to give just $10 during this time period to help us win the competition.  Every donation raised during this period will not only bring us one step closer to our dream of partnering with Girl Effect, but will ensure adolescent girls in Mewat, India can safely return to school.  By providing bus transportation, we will help many of these girls escape childhood marriage and become the first girls to reach high school in the history of their villages!

You can make your $10 donation today at http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/the-blossom-bus/  (and be sure to check out our new video of the girls!)

HELP US GO GUERRILLA

We know we can do this!  You helped Lotus Outreach win a similar challenge in 2009.  But we also know how important it is to get our supporters mobilized and engaged.  The projects leading the Challenge tend to have the most Facebook shares, so please tell your friends, family and colleagues about this competition on Facebook and ask them to pledge their support. Every donation counts, so please help us spread the word far and wide through email and Twitter as well!

Questions?  Please contact info@lotusoutreach.org

Links:

• Anjum speaks up for girls in Mewat
• Track our ranking in the GE Challenge
• Blossom Bus riders: WE ARE GIRL EFFECT!

This September 4 we met with our 58 Blossom Bus riders, their parents and the heads of five villages at Mankaki school in Hathin block, Mewat for a community Sports Day to celebrate the impact of education. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate and the sports activities were rained out, but those present took the opportunity to gather and discuss the wonderful benefit of the Blossom Bus project and their hopes for the future of girls’ education in Mewat.

The families told us that the Blossom Bus is now well known throughout Mewat, and it would easily be filled by girls from every village if we could meet the demand. The village head of Mankaki shared his gratitude for what he called a “trend-setter service” which he believes will change the face of Mewat. (Mankaki is the home of our beneficiary Anjum, who wrote a stunning manifesto of women’s rights a few months ago.)

Parents and village heads alike spoke about how important the project is for girls who never thought they would go to school past grade 8, since parents consider it unsafe for their daughters to walk four to five kilometers to neighboring villages where the only secondary schools are available. Project Manager Suraj Kumar (affectionately called “Uncle” in the villages) acknowledged the support of all the villagers, and thanked them for the tremendous faith and trust they showed in our staff.

Suraj also took the opportunity to discuss more broadly the Right to Education Act of 2009, effective April 1, 2010, which guarantees free quality education for all Indian children up to grade 8. He asked those present to raise demand for school transport, which should rightly be provided by the government to girls so that their right to education can be realized.

This fall, we will be expanding to provide bus transportation to 100 young women on five buses to attend secondary school. The villagers and Blossom Bus riders agreed that girls now studying in grade 9 and 10 are the first in their villages to reach these grades – and that prior to the project they could not have achieved this dream in a district which posted a 2 percent female literacy rate in India's 2001 census.

The 58 Blossom Bus riders were given school bags and uniforms, as were 40 other girls from Mankaki village for encouragement. All children present were given sweets, a rare treat, as a token of appreciation for their participation. Our warmest and sincerest thanks to each and every one of you, who have helped bring this remarkable project to life. 

Links:

• Anjum's manifesto
• Blossom Bus video on LO's website
• Blossom Bus makes the Huffington Post!